The present invention relates to an apparatus for working on leads of components such as electrical components, having component supply systems and at least one tool unit able to be moved backwards and forwards along a line along which the components are supplied, with the tool unit having lead processing tools designed to be moved in opposite directions.
German patent application No. P 29 44 684.2 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,012 give an account of an apparatus along these general lines in which the components are supplied along a slideway having a guide slot through which the leads of the components are run downwards into the path of working motion of the tool. For processing the leads, the components have their leads gripped by the tools so that in one working motion in the supply direction, the leads are moved clear of the guide and processed, for example, forced further away from each other, bent, notched and cut to the desired length. In this respect, the operation of the apparatus is generally first rate and trouble-free from every angle.
However, while it is true that up till now it has been a question of processing loose components put in a supply system, such as a slideway, by hand or put in line by a vibratory box or shaking hopper and then transported to the slideway, it is now the case that more and more components are supplied in a bandolier, with the leads being fixed on to tapes by way of separate pieces of adhesive tape. The components are fixed on the bandolier with a given, desired spacing which has now become generally standard and, generally speaking, is much smaller than the distance moved by the tools necessary for transport of loose components supplied by way of a slideway out of the same, because this working motion is generally of such a size that long IC components may be processed. It will be seen from this that the known apparatus, if tooled up for processing loose components, supplied by way of a slideway, may not readily be used for bandoliered components if a bandolier guide is simply used instead of the slideway, because the size of the working motion produced by the driving cam in the German patent application and corresponding U.S. Patent is generally too large and, at any rate, is not geared to the working motion necessary with bandoliered components. While it is true that for changing over from the processing of components supplied by way of a slideway to components fixed to a bandolier, the driving cam might be changed, such a step is generally complex.